One way to use Local Lead Finder. Local Lead Finder is a $10 Google Sheets template I built that turns any Google Maps search into a lead list: every business, with phone, website, rating and reviews. This post is one use case for it: selling websites to salons. I’m not a web designer; this is the playbook I’d follow if I were, run for real with the template. Other ways to use it are listed at the end, or see all 18 lead generation ideas.
You build websites, and you want salons as clients. Salons are a good fit: they’re local, they live on how they look, and plenty of them still don’t have a real site. The hard part is knowing which salons to talk to. Search “how to get web design clients” and you get Reddit threads and agency advice that says the same few things: cold email, network, put a profile on Upwork. Nobody tells you which businesses to email. The other routes cost you either way: bidding against everyone else on a freelance marketplace, or buying a lead list of “salons” with no idea which ones already have a site.
So if I were a web designer looking for salon clients, here’s my list. I ran it for real with Local Lead Finder, a $10 Google Sheet I built that pulls every business on Google Maps into a spreadsheet. One “hair salon” search across Chattanooga found 325 salons. You’ll leave with who to pitch first (the 38 salons whose only website is a booking page), who to pitch next, who to skip, and the message I’d send them.
TL;DR
- Of 325 Chattanooga salons, 38 list a booking page as their only website, and 23 of those are GlossGenius pages.
- Pitch those 38 first: they already pay for booking software and take bookings online, they just have no site.
- Don’t pitch the 131 salons that already list their own website; skip them and the 16 chains.
Who this is for
- Freelance web designer: you get 38 salons whose only website is a booking page, a warmer list than salons with nothing online.
- Web design agency owner: you get a ranked order of who to pitch in one city, from warmest to coldest, before anyone picks up the phone.
- Website builder for local businesses: you see exactly which salons list a booking page, social media or nothing as their website.
- Salon marketing consultant: you get the salons that take bookings online but have no site of their own to rank on Google.
- Side hustler learning to sell websites: you get a first list of real salons and a short message to send them.
Before you start
- A Google Places API (New) key
- Local Lead Finder set up in your Google Drive
- Local Lead Finder itself
- A city to search, like Chattanooga, Tennessee
- A short message that says what you build and asks one question
Don’t have a Places API key yet? How to get one free. Haven’t set up the sheet? Setup takes 5 minutes.
Step 1: Pull every salon in the city
Region: Chattanooga, Tennessee. Find Areas turned it into 73 areas: Chattanooga plus the towns and neighborhoods around it.
Then “hair salon” in Search in All AREAS. It came back with 325 results. Each row has the name, phone, address, rating, number of reviews and the website the salon lists on Google. That website column is how you sort the list.
Step 2: Find the salons whose website is a booking page
A salon that books with GlossGenius and has no site of its own usually puts its GlossGenius page in the Google website field. Same with Vagaro, Booksy and the rest. So I counted the website column by app. Here’s the GlossGenius one:
=SUMPRODUCT(REGEXMATCH('hair salon (AREAS)'!I2:I326,"(?i)glossgenius"))
Column I is the website. (?i) makes it ignore capital letters. Swap “glossgenius” for “vagaro”, “booksy” and so on to count the others.
Who to pitch websites for salons, and in what order
Here’s what all 325 salons list as their website on Google, and what I’d do with each group:
- 38 list a booking page. Pitch these first. GlossGenius 23, Vagaro 7, Booksy 4, Square 2, Fresha 1, StyleSeat 1. They already pay for software, they already take bookings online, and they already care how they look online. What they don’t have is a site of their own.
- 25 list Facebook, Instagram or Linktree. Pitch these next. They already post, but there’s no site behind it.
- 131 list no website at all. The bigger, colder list. Some of these will be busy salons that just never set one up. I wrote a whole post on that list: How to Find Local Businesses Without Websites.
- 131 have their own website. Skip them unless you’re selling a redesign.
Why the booking-page salons first? You’re not selling them on going online. They already did that. You’re offering the missing piece: something with their name on it, their photos, their prices, and a Book button that goes to the GlossGenius or Vagaro page they already use. Nothing to switch.
Be honest with yourself about the numbers. This is what salons put in the website field on Google:
- A salon can use an app and have a website. If a salon books with Vagaro but lists its own site, it counts as own website. That’s fine for you: they already have a site.
- The numbers are small. 38 salons in one city. It tells you what’s showing up in Chattanooga, not everywhere.
- It’s one search. “Hair salon” around Chattanooga. Nail salons, spas and other cities could look different.
Here’s the rest of the breakdown, so you know what’s in the 325:
16 barbershops, 6 salon suite buildings, 16 chains and 284 independent salons. Skip the chains; their website decisions happen at headquarters. The independents are where the owner decides.
A GlossGenius website isn’t a salon website: the message I’d send
Set this as the WhatsApp message in SETTINGS so every salon’s link opens with it:
Hi! I saw your Google listing goes straight to your GlossGenius page. It’s great for booking, but it isn’t really a website of your own that Google can rank. I build simple one-page websites for salons, with your photos, your prices and a Book button that goes to the booking page you already use. Nothing to switch. Want me to send you a quick mockup?
Swap “GlossGenius” for Vagaro, Booksy or whatever the salon’s website column shows. Then work down the 38. Mark each one Outreached so it turns green and you never message a salon twice.
Step by step
- Get a Places API key and set up Local Lead Finder.
- Put your city in SETTINGS > Region and run Find Areas.
- Search “hair salon” in all areas.
- Count the website column by app with SUMPRODUCT and REGEXMATCH (glossgenius, vagaro, booksy, square, fresha, styleseat).
- Filter to the salons whose website is a booking page. Those are your first list.
- Take out chains and salon suite buildings.
- Send the message. Mark each salon Outreached.
- Move on to the Facebook, Instagram and Linktree salons, then the ones with no website.
Common pitfalls
- Starting with the no-website salons: it’s the biggest list, but the coldest. The 38 booking-page salons already pay for software and take bookings online, so start there.
- Treating an empty website as no website: “no website listed” means nothing in the Google field. Check the salon’s Facebook or a quick search before you pitch a site they might already have.
- Searching before Find Areas finishes: Find Areas takes a minute or two to pull towns from OpenStreetMap. Wait until the AREAS tab is filled (73 areas here) before you search.
- Leaving chains and salon suites in: the 16 chains decide at headquarters, and a salon suite building’s stylists each run their own business. Take them out before you message anyone.
- Trusting every row is a salon: neighborhood names can pull in junk. Scan the names before you send anything.
- Not marking Outreached: without it you’ll message the same salon twice. Outreached rows turn green and stay green in every future search.
Learn the Google Sheets formulas in this post
- 3 Ways to Count in Google Sheets: the basics behind counting salons by what they list as their website.
- How To Sort A Filter: filter to the 38 booking-page salons and sort them by reviews.
- 200 REGEXMATCH Examples in Google Sheets: the pattern matching that finds “glossgenius” or “vagaro” in the website column.
- REGEXMATCH Formula Generator for Google Sheets: build the app patterns without writing them by hand.
Better Sheets has hundreds more tutorials like these. If you want to get better at Google Sheets, join Better Sheets.
Other ways to use Local Lead Finder
- How to Find Social Media Management Clients: salons using Facebook as their website: for social media managers looking for businesses that already post.
- Local Lead Generation for Web Designers: 225 dentist leads: for web designers pitching great businesses nobody can find.
- How Many Small Businesses Don’t Have a Website? Real counts from 4 cities: for web designers and marketers who want real numbers.
- Wedding Hair Group Deals: salons open to booking the whole shop: for wedding planners booking hair for a whole bridal party.
All 18, grouped by who they’re for: Lead generation ideas: 18 local businesses to sell to.
FAQ
How do I get web design clients?
Start with a list where every business has a reason to say yes. Around Chattanooga, 38 of 325 salons list a booking page as their only website, so they already take bookings online and just need a site.
Is a GlossGenius website enough for a salon?
It works for booking, and 23 of the 325 salons use their GlossGenius page as their website on Google. What it doesn’t give them is a site of their own with their name, photos and prices. That’s the gap a web designer can fill, with a Book button that still goes to GlossGenius.
What should salon website design include?
For a booking-page salon, I’d keep it simple: one page with their photos, their prices and a Book button that goes to the booking page they already use. Nothing to switch.
Which salons should I pitch first?
The 38 whose website is a booking page, then the 25 that list Facebook, Instagram or Linktree, then the 131 with no website at all. Skip the 131 with their own site and the 16 chains.
Why are some salons with Vagaro or GlossGenius missing from the count?
The count is what salons put in the Google website field. A salon that books with Vagaro but lists its own site counts as own website, and it already has a site, so it isn’t your lead anyway.
How much does a search cost?
Each area is one Google Places request per results page, on your own Places API (New) key. Google gives up to 1,000 searches a month free, and the sheet shows the most a search could cost before it runs.
Is Local Lead Finder a scraper?
No. It uses Google’s official Places API with your own key, and writes the results into your own Google Sheet.
Get the sheet
Local Lead Finder is $10, and free for Better Sheets lifetime members.
